25 Best Cities for Singles in the U.S.

Ramish Cheema

Tue, May 2, 2023, 2:53 AM 8 min read

One area of daily living that technology has managed to disrupt is dating. Gone are the days when men and women had to actually go out and meet strangers to find that perfect match. Instead, applications like Tinder let you browse through user profiles simply through the palm of your hand, and, if you're lucky, match up with a potential partner.

The growth in online dating has followed the increase in smartphone use. Looking back, the rise of the smartphone's importance in our daily lives can be traced back to the launch of the iPhone in 2007. The iPhone became the first mainstream smartphone in the world, following which countless other devices were launched. Correlating this with research from the Pew Research Center shows that a higher number of people also started dating online as smartphones became more common. A 2015 research report from the organization shows that 15% of U.S. adults had used online dating, with younger users aged between 18 and 24 tripling their use and older ones aged between 55 to 64 doubling it. Compare these statistics with a 2006 report from the same organization. This report outlines that a mere ten million internet users were using online platforms to find a romantic partner - with 16 million or 11% of all internet-using adults having used the Internet for dating purposes. In percentage terms, the U.S. population was 298 million in 2006, implying that just 5% of the total population was using online dating. In terms of the proportion of adults, the U.S. working age population was 188 million, bringing up our percentage to 8%.

From 8% to 15% in just a decade shows the impact of the smartphone on online dating, with the percentage doubling. However, the next doubling comes in just five years, with a 2020 Pew report sharing that 30% of American adults had used a dating site. Within this cohort, 23% had actually gone on a date with someone that they met online, and 12% actually ended up being committed or married to this person. In short, the chance of you landing up permanently with someone you met online is less than 50% - so we wonder what else might be happening with 18% of people that didn't end up in a relationship with their online matches.

Whatever the answer is, it's clear that online dating is a rapidly growing industry. Beefing up our analysis with numeric figures and some financial figures supports this claim. For instance, a research report from Grand View Research shows that the global online dating market stood at $9.65 billion in 2022. From then on until 2023 the sector is expected to grow through a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4% to sit at an estimated $17.2 billion by the end of the forecast period. Within this market, some of the biggest players are Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL), Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH), and Grindr Inc. (NYSE:GRND), with billions of dollars in market capitalization and millions in revenue.

Naturally, these players operate on a global level, and their scale makes it difficult for incumbents to launch alternatives on a similar scale. Some of the newer entrants in the industry are Snack, a video dating application; Thursday, a rather interesting application that is available only on Thursdays; Heart to Heart, an application that lets users also send voice notes to each other; and Schmooze which lets you match on meme choice. Looking at this handful of examples, it's clear that newer entrants are getting creative with their applications to wrest away market share from the larger companies. Additionally, just as small businesses can benefit from targeting the right local markets, so can these companies, especially since dating is a local phenomenon. After all, you're unlikely to match or go out with someone from Tokyo if you're living in New York. Some strategies for small businesses targeting local markets that those in the dating industry can also follow include developing a unique selling proposition, separating the market by geography, and evaluating the market in terms of growth potential.

As to how the online dating industry is faring during these troubling days, an excerpt from Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)'s Q4 2022 earnings call provides some insights:

We expect the company overall as well as Tinder to have accelerating year-over-year revenue growth as we move through 2023 driven by improved product execution leading to improved revenue momentum at Tinder. In terms of AOI, we expect improving year-over-year margins in the back half of the year as the benefits of our cost savings initiatives take hold and Tinder top line growth accelerates. Our cost savings initiatives are focused on rightsizing headcount and reducing overhead costs, including office expenses and professional fees. We expect to reduce our global workforce by approximately 8% in aggregate. We’ve already reduced roles in the U.S. In other countries, this process is ongoing. We expect to incur $6 million of severance and similar costs related to our cost savings initiatives in 2023.

With these details in mind, let's take a look at some of the best cities in America for singles.

Photo by René Ranisch on Unsplash

Our Methodology

To compile our list of the best cities in the U.S. for singles, we used six different lists (1,2,3,4,5,6) from reputable sources. Each time a city appeared on a list, it was assigned a score equal to its ranking. If it was present on one list but absent on another, it got 25 points. Then, the final scores were averaged, and the top 25 cities in America for single people are presented below.

Best Cities for Singles in the U.S.

25. Houston, Texas

Insider Monkey's Score: 21.2

Houston is one of the largest cities in Texas in terms of population.

24. Durham, North Carolina

Insider Monkey's Score: 21

Durham is one of the most populous cities in North Carolina. The city holds a variety of music and film festivals each year, and it also has one of the best music cultures in America.

23. Fort Smith, Arkansas

Insider Monkey's Score: 21

Fort Smith is one of the smaller cities on our list, with a population of less than a hundred thousand people. It is still the forth largest city in Arkansas.

22. Grand Rapids, Michigan

Insider Monkey's Score: 21

Grand Rapids is Michigan's second largest city in terms of population after Detroit. It has several music venues and museums.

21. Columbia, South Carolina

Insider Monkey's Score: 17.8

Columbia is the capital of South Carolina and one of the most populous cities in the state.

20. Hialeah, Florida

Insider Monkey's Score: 20.8

Hialeah is located close to Miami, one of Florida's largest cities. The city has a variety of public parks and recreation centers.

19. Columbus, Ohio

Insider Monkey's Score: 20.8

Columbus is the capital city of Ohio and has a population of close to a million people, making it one of the largest cities in America.

18. Denver, Colorado

Insider Monkey's Score: 20.8

Denver is the most populous city and the capital of Colorado. It has a host of different museums and sports teams.

17. Brownsville, Teas

Insider Monkey's Score: 20.6

Brownsville is a port city in Texas that is best known these days for housing SpaceX's Starship rocket development site.

16. Tallahassee, Florida

Insider Monkey's Score: 20.6

Tallahassee is the capital city of Florida. The city is known for housing the University of Florida.

15. Charlotte, North Carolina

Insider Monkey's Score: 20.6

Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina in terms of population. It houses several large financial services firms.

14. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Insider Monkey's Score: 20.6

Milwaukee houses more than half a million people and is the most populous city in Wisconsin. It has a vibrant art, history, and performative art scene.